The National Research Council's 2000 report, Eager to Learn, concluded: ``Many children, especially those in low-income households, are served in child care programs of such low quality that learning and development are not enhanced and may even be jeopardized.'' The First Lady's White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, held in 2001, also called attention to the need for preschool programs to enhance their instructional content in the area of early cognition and pre-reading skills.

Despite Head Start and other public and private day care and preschool services, a large portion of children entering local kindergartens are arriving far behind other children in their emergent reading skills. Local estimates are that many arrive up to 1,000 hours (more than 2 years) behind other students in pre-literacy training typically provided in the home and preschool or child care facilities. These children have difficulty EVER catching up. The maxim is all too true: "Those who start behind stay behind."

Based on kindergarten assessment test results gathered by the National Children’s Reading Foundation, the minority achievement gap already exists during the first week of kindergarten, when this assessment was first given. For a variety of environmental, financial and cultural reasons, children in minority families spend far less time reading books with their parents and doing other pre-literacy activities. The Eager to Learn report says all children are ready and wanting to learn from birth, but the quality of our preschool training leaves many children unprepared to succeed in school.

Some states have adopted some rules and regulations for larger child care providers, but more children are cared for at in-home and other similar facilities run by individuals with little training and negligible curriculum budgets. These are frequently the providers for the most disadvantaged of our society. In addition, many child care providers fail to take their educational responsibilities very seriously. Some use subpar curricula. And some may purchase potentially effective curricula but fail to administer it properly.

The International Education Institute seeks $1 million to establish a Model Child Care Program, demonstrating a high-power but low-cost multimedia reading and math curriculum, and to provide training, computers and the same curriculum to an estimated 300 child care centers with approximately 5,000 children to see if smaller centers can make significant educational improvements with relatively low investment in curriculum, equipment and training.

The Institute would work with the Benton-Franklin Community Action Committee, which has 36 years experience serving the needs of Southeastern Washington. Child care-related programs run by the BFCAC include the Seasonal Child Care Subsidy Program, the Homeless Child Care Program, the Child Care Block Grant Resource and Referral Program, the Dependent Child Care Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Nutrition Incentive Program, the Healthy Child Care Project, the Infant Care Project, the DASA and Child Care Provider Training, Women Helping Women Non-Traditional Child Care Program, a Child Care Micro Loan Program, Division of Social and Health Services Work First Whole Family Services Program, and the Division of Child Care Early Learning Program.

The Education Insitute and BFCAC will help improve the quality of child care services in the region by creating the Model Child Care Center to demonstrate to other centers how easily a quality reading and math curriculum can be melded into standard child care services. BFCAC will provide free training for the child care staffs, and will try to convince child care providers in the area that to include a quality reading and math curriculum (1) will enhance customer satisfaction, (2) will not require a significant amount of investment or staff time, and (3) is the right thing to do to help the children prepare for success in the public schools.

The Model Child care would not be operated by the Institute nor by the partnering BFCAC, but rather by a collaborating child care center in the area that is willing to allow competitors to sit in on classes and in other ways learn from the Model Child Care's program. The Institute would provide curriculum and initial training and assistance; the BFCAC would provide longer-term assistance and consultation to the child care centers. The BFCAC would schedule formal classes and demonstrations for other child care centers throughout the area.

But Institute and BFCAC would also provide curriculum and training for up to 300 child care centers in Southeastern Washington state, with as many as 5,000 students. The Institute would provide enough curricula for on-site use and to check books, videos and/or computer CDs out to children every night as "homework" to review with their parents.

It is clear from national research and our own experience that getting parents more involved is the best way to address such problems as the achievement gap, dropout rates, and disciplinary problems. It is also clear that for an entire community to achieve high academic standards, no ethnic group and no economic group can be ignored. And the group most difficult to bring up to standard in Southeastern Washington is the growing population of Hispanic immigrants and migrants.

A key to this program is a literacy program out of New Zealand that has been successful in teaching reading and English as a second language to both young children and adults. The curriculum is scientifically based -- the developers having implemented educational research compiled by the University of Chicago's Center for Early Childhood Research and Glenn Doman's Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, combined with the long-tested phonics approach of Montessori. The curriculum emphasizes:

1. Phonemic awareness.
2. Phonics.
3. Vocabulary development.
4. Reading fluency.
5. Reading comprehension strategies.

This multi-sensory program is available in book form, video and computer. For greatest success, the use of all three versions is recommended, in order to appeal to all styles of learning: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. The Reading Master curricula are primarily media driven so as to require relatively little staff time for child care centers.

Child care centers have successfully used the Reading Master reading curriculum to teach children as young as 2 how to read. But even if many of our 500 child care centers fail to achieve that kind of success, the children can fairly easily use this curriculum to learn letters, phonemic awareness, phonics, and increased vocabulary, including the 400 most-frequently-used site words. This curriculum would be expected to provide children at centers using the program with expected consistency with more emergent literacy skills than expected for preschoolers in order to achieve kindergarten success.

The book, video and computerized versions of the curriculum will also be available as "homework" for parents and children to work on together each night. Adults and children will be encouraged to sit down together for about 1/2 hour each night to view a portion of the videotape set, work on the computerized version and/or to read the at least one book from the curriculum together.

The reading program has a successful track record with illiterate adults and adults learning English as a second language. So this "homework" assignment will not only build pre-reading skills among preschoolers, but will also help migrant families to build cohesion in pursuing improved English language skills.

In the child care centers, we recommend children watch 15 minutes of the videotaped version of the curriculum twice each day in the classroom, and, if possible, that each child be provided 1/2 hour a day on the computerized version and additional time looking at the program's 27 books.

The Institute would provide approximately two computers (new or reconditioned) for the computerized portion of curricula. The Reading Master curriculum is more than just a reading curriculum. Educators say it helps children learn much more about the world around them and helps stimulate their intellectual growth – not just their reading. The curriculum includes electronic books that teach about specific typologies of common animals, such as horses and cats; exotic animals and birds; nature and types of clouds; planets, stars and outer space. The developers note that young children can find discovering reality every bit as exciting as fiction, and so the curriculum provides a surprising expansion of children's basic understanding and vocabulary.

This is what is being observed in a Kindergarten Reading Pilot Project currently being conducted by the International Education Institute. Children using the Reading Master computerized curriculum get very excited about what they are learning. They then pay attention to the less exciting but equally informational videotaped version of the curriculum, and they are anxious to read the accompanying books, as well.

Reading Master has not been used a great deal in the U.S. It has assisted more than 36,000 children to learn how to read in Australasia and other parts of the world but is just now being introduced to America. At first its approach and results were controversial. Now it is generally viewed as educational best practice in that part of the world and has been the subject of several studies, special mention on TVNZ’s Assignment program and a Ph.D thesis.

Ph.D candidate Ann Terry, who works under the guidance of educational researcher W.E. Tumner at Massey University, concluded that the Reading Master System:

• Is adequately phonics-based to comply with current best practices in achieving "phonological awareness, phonological processing, alphabetic awareness, comprehension … [and] reading in context."
• Blends phonics and whole word approach "to form a comprehensive reading program" to help preschoolers become readers at an early age "in a fun way."
• "Caters individually to each child's learning style" and allows each child to learn "at his/her own speed."
• "Has been successfully used by children with disabilities as varied as autism, ADD, dyslexia and Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome."
• Increases preschoolers' "knowledge and vocabulary base."
• "Assists in the bonding between child and parent."
• "Develops the child's self-esteem thereby avoiding possible negative Matthew effects (Stanovich, 1996).

Other educational professionals have also tested or reviewed the curriculum:

Wrote Mary Ellen Maunz of Montessori International: "The Reading Master System is a unique blend of effective methods, produced in an outstanding format. The quality of information and lovely illustrations make these books a must. In our 25 years of developing programs and combining the best of the best, we discovered that Doman flashcards with Spalding phonics makes a great combination. Reading Master made the same discovery."

Dr. Cynthia Thrush, Ph.D Education (Cognitive Science), made a similar observation: "I've spent 30 years of my life with children in schools, and in all those years I have never seen a program that successfully combined phonics, whole brain learning plus accelerated learning techniques and music and color as the Reading Master does."

Co-developer Grant Ford recounts the success experienced by Principal David Foster and the Hunua Primary School in Auckland.

"David had a group of children ranging in ages from 7 to 9 years of age that were in the 4th percentile for reading in their respective age groups. … These children had been through at least six months of the State Reading Recovery program and had even had one-on-one tutoring for four months after that. Yet despite the resources thrown at the problem, they were still averaging the 4th percentile for reading for their age.

"These children were allowed access to the Reading Master books and 30 minutes per day unsupervised on the Reading Master CD-Rom. After just under 4 months, these children averaged the 86th percentile in reading for their age."

Because of the multi-sensory, individualized approach, Reading Master purports to have been used successfully with dyslexic, autistic, adult, and ESL students. David Foster, the Hunua School principal, wrote: "A child who had been causing major concern caught up two years worth of reading progress in under six months. Your work has produced a valuable resource that compliments and reinforces the vital elements of any successful school reading program."

Patrick J. Lynch, Executive Director of the Catholic Education Office NZ, adds: "Congratulations on the production of the Reading Master System, which is excellent and timely, especially when teachers are looking for better ways to teach youngsters the basics of literacy. I am happy to promote the material among our Integrated Schools and schools generally."

Angela Wilson , of the Tinytown Learning Centres, in Auckland, New Zealand, has been using Reading Master in her learning centers for five years now. Her staff uses both the CD-ROM and books at the centers, and the videos are sent home with the children for reinforcement of learning. She says they have "2-year-olds reading well" and that it is "a specially brilliant program to use with children who speak English as a second language and for children with learning difficulties, including such conditions as speech delay." CONTACT: Angela Wilson, 64 9 570 9919.

ReadingMaster-Math also uses multi-sensory techniques to teach math, beginning with quantities from 1-10. They appear in ascending, descending and random order. This teaches recognition of quantity patterns up to 10 and counting up to 10 without the use of numerals. Quantities are then continued up to 50 as a preparation for understanding that numbers, even larger ones describe quantities.

The complete curriculum covers Quantity, Sets, Addition, Subtraction, Counting, Estimation, Comparison, Patterns, Problem Solving, Shapes, Fractions, Numerals, Place Value, Symbols, Multiplication, Division, Telling Time, Measuring and Times Tables using flashcards, games and activities. The ReadingMaster-Math Video 1 combines flashcard graphics with real life footage of animals and children. Children’s voices are used to teach many of the basic facts as young children enjoy learning from older children. As with the company's reading videos, music to learn by is used to help children assimilate and retain the information, and the material is presented at the optimal learning rate.

The project budget allocates money to provide for longitudinal assessment of children taught under this system. Project supervisor Ken Harvey is already working with several schools in utilizing a blend of curricula, including Reading Master, in the kindergarten setting. The pilot project is expected to have kindergartners reading at an average of mid-first-grade level by year's end. If successful, the program will be offered to other kindergartens in the region and will help enhance curricular continuity.

Mr. Harvey oversaw the assessment of 4- and 5-year-olds at a preschool in Utah where staff claims 100% of their 215 preschoolers learn how to read. The assessment of a random sampling of students confirmed that students in the school's 6-hour-per-week program surpassed typical kindergarten graduates in reading readiness skills and were already reading at an average mid-first-grade level.

Census and other sources confirm that there exists a great need in Southeastern Washington for such a program.

• The Mid-Columbia area, including Franklin County, is an agricultural area dependent on migrant labor. The county's largest city, Pasco, with 32,066 population is 56.3% Hispanic. Of the entire county population, 46.7% is Hispanic.
• About half of all Hispanic children live in poverty in Franklin County, including 59.2% of all children under 5.
• 60% of all students in Franklin County -- 6,934 of 11,561 -- are Hispanic.
• 62% of all students receive subsidized school lunch.
• Among all ethnic groups, Hispanics are doing the worst on the state's principal achievement test -- the WASL. The gap between average scores of Hispanic students on the WASL and all others was 31.7%. The gap between white students and Hispanic students whose primary language is Spanish was 43.2%. And the gap between white students passing state standards and Hispanic migrant students was 46.1%.
• Only 68% of Franklin County's high school seniors graduate, including only 64.5% of Pasco School District's seniors.

While the proposed program would also be available to non-Hispanic students attending the designated child care sites, the Hispanic students are expected to benefit the most because of the degree of achievement gap that exists.

The proposed $1 million budget is very reasonable, considering that 5,000 children will be impacted by the program.

The supply budget includes funds for 3-4 complete sets of curriculum (books, videos and CD-ROM) for each of up to 500 classrooms in the 300 centers. This will be adequate curricula so that each child can take home 1-2 books and a video or CD-ROM each night.

The personnel budget includes funds for about 10 part-time trainers/evaluators. Part-time staff will be paid well for their time (without fringe benefits), but their part-time status is preferred so that maximum effort can be applied during certain critical periods -- especially the first few months of the program startup and also during the last two months of the school year when they will assist with student assessment. Each of the 10 trainers/evaluators will be responsible to oversee the efforts of about 30 child care centers and up to 50 classrooms. Besides scheduled group workshops, their efforts in training the child care staff will be limited. However, that is a positive thing in that we intend to demonstrate that child care providers can be successful using a multimedia curriculum, with little staff time required for training, preparation or classroom instruction. Nonetheless, during the first two months and the last two months of the academic year, trainer visits to each child care center will probably be 5-6 hours long. During the other eight months a year, the trainers may visit each site once a month for about an hour at a time. The trainers will also assist with parenting seminars to encourage and train parents in how they can better prepare their children for school.

Key Budget Items

Computers/equipment                   $400,000

Curriculum                                       $200,000

P-t Trainers/Evaluators (10)          $200,000

Administrative Staff & Costs         $200,000

TOTAL                                             $1 million

With this $1 million budget, the Benton-Franklin Community Action Committee will provide curricula and training for 1,000 child care providers and instructors, as well as thousands of parents. And we will greatly enhance the basic skills curriculum -- especially the reading curriculum -- for 10,000 preschoolers.

If this program is as successful as we expect it to be, it can be replicated anywhere in the country with similar results. While we are pursuing federal funds to pursue this research, we are also considering a privately funded approach.

'GUARANTEED-TO-READ' CHILD-CARE CENTERS

The International Education Institute is also considering a privately funded approach to demonstrating the effectiveness of our combination curriculum.

The approach would be to contact child-care centers across the country and propose to help them create a "Guaranteed-to-Read" Curriculum and Advertising Campaign that will help them greatly increase their growth at relatively low cost -- $1200 per classroom per year, or about what they would make off one child.

The child-care centers can implement the advertising campaign before they buy the curriculum and equipment. The ad campaign should easily help a center recruit a dozen more students, and eventually hundreds -- if they have the facilities to handle them. One preschool using this curriculum has more than 300 preschool students, and is still growing, because every 4-year-old preschooler successfully learns how to read in just one year.

Our "Guaranteed to Read" campaign would require child-care centers to back up the guarantee, but it would be based on two years of attendance at the center (ages 3-5 or 4-6) -- not just one year -- and with an enhanced curriculum. The proposed contract with each family would also allow the centers to offer families a choice of exempting themselves from the guarantee or removing their child from the center with a full refund of tuition paid to date if teachers find the child has a learning handicap. If the handicap is obvious, the center should lose no more than a few days of service before requesting the exemption, and may choose to test students even before signing the original contract. But even most children with such handicaps should be able to learn how to read in two years on this curriculum.

So, private funding could offer a win-win approach.